Fur cutting machine



Aug. 23, 1932. gs 1,873,027

FUR CUTTING MACHINE Filed Jufie 20, 1951 I 2 SheetsSheet 1 INVENTOR [wa/1i 1w,

I I/ @M a 4110mm Aug. 23, 1932.;

R; PLAss FUR CUTTING MACHINE I Filed June 20,- 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Patented Aug. 23, 1932 N T STATE PATENT OFFICE 1 ROBERT H. PLASS, orUrrnia Monro AIR, NEVT JERSEY, essio-lvon ro THE cI-IAPAL nomvnnoonrona'rron,

JERSEY V Applicatioh' mea June ,20,

This invention relates to improvements in feeding means of thisinvention comprises.

means to support the pelt closeto the cutting point, such means being soactuated as to provide clearance for the escapeof severed fur from suchcutting point, together with a reciprocatory means for engaging andimpelling forward the'pelt at points intermedi-. ate the usual feedrolls and cutting point, so that feeding movement is positively assured,especially as to the trailing end portions of pelts after th same escapethe nip'of the main feedingrolls. V e

Other objects of this invention, not at this time moreparticularlyenumerated,'will be understood from the following detailed descriptionof the same.

An illustrative embodim'entof this invention is shown in theaccompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is atop plan View of a furcutting machine according to the principles of the present invention;Fig. 2 is a vertical trans-. verse section of the same, taken on line 22in-Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view,illustrating the mode of oper-' ation of the pelt feeding means; andFig. 4

is a detail fragmentary view, on an enlarged scale, showing the meansforactuating the pelt supporting devices of the machine.

Similar characters of reference are em ployed in the above describedviews, to indiwardly projectedbed-knife support 6; Suitably journaled toextend betweensaid end on NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, 'A CORPORATION or innw runcurrme MACHINE 1931. "Serial No. 545,792.

frame plates 5 is a main shaft 7, upon which is fixed the cuttingcylinder 8 of the machine. Radially projecting from the surface of saidcylinder 8 are a plurality of revolving cutting blades- 9, which arepreferably ofthe usual helical or curved shape in longitudinalextension. 11

Fixed on said bed-knife support 6 is a stationary bed-knife 10; withwhich thecutting edges of the revolving cutting blades 9 c0- operatewith shearing effect; An enclosing hood 11 is arranged over the cuttingcylinder 8 in such manner as to provide an opening- 12 contiguous to thebed-knife 10 to give the pelts to be treated access to the cutting pointof the machine. Extending downwardly from the exterior side of saidbed-knife 10 is a severed fur discharge passage 13. V

Suitably journaled to extend between said end frame plates 5, forwardlyof the bedknife 10, is a shaft 14 upon which are fixed lower feed rolls15, and also journaled to ex tend between said end frame plates 5, aboveand parallel to said shaft 14 andlo-wer feed rolls 15, is a shaft 16upon which are ,fixed upper feed rolls 17 to cooperate with said lowerfeed rolls. Said shafts and their feed rolls are driven in oppositedirections by any suitable transmission'means, so as to engage 19, whichis connected with and driven by said main shaft 7 through achain andsprocket transmission 20.' Driven from said counter shaft 19 is a chainand sprocket trans mission 21, the driven sprocket 22 of which isjournaled on a stud shaft 23. Connected with'said driven sprocket 22, soas to rotate therewith, is a pinion 24, which meshes with a gear wheel25 fixed on an endof the feed roll shaft 14, thus drivingthe same. ASaid feed-roll shafts 14 and-16 are intergeared a pelt passed betweenthe rolls and urge the 3 chine,are innerjlever members 32, which areinwardly off-set relative to said counter.-

together by gearing 26, whereby the shaft 16 is driven from shaft 14,and in opposite directions. The upper shaft 16 and its feed rolls 1? arepreferably tensionally urged toward the lower shaft 14 and itsfeed rolls15 so as to grip a pelt passed therebetween' in the usual manner. V

a The reference characters 27 and 28, respec tively, indicate themembers of two sets of longitudinally reciprocable bars, which barsrespectively terminate at their inner ends in pelt supporting fingers27" and 28" arranged to extend between the nip of the feedrolls 1517 andthe bed-knife 10, but in a plane slightly below the plane of the nip ofsaid feed rolls. Said bars and their fingers are disposed verticallyedgewise to extend in" substantially horizontal plane from the outerside or front of the machine toward the bedknife; the same beingsupported at their outer lendportionsby a supporting plate 29, whichextends between the end frame plates 5, and being supported at theirinner end portions by the lower feed roll shaft 14 so as to pass betweenthe rolls 15 thereof. A cover plateBO extends from the outer side orfront of the-machine to'terminateadjacent to the feed rolls 15'1;7,said'cover plate serving to cover the major portions of the reciprocablebars 2728,and its upper surface providing a feed table vover whicha peltis fed to the nip of the feed'rolls 1517'. V 7

The means for reciprocating the bars 2Z- 2S, and tlieirpelt supportingfingers 2728 comprisesin one form, the following mechanism: V,Pivotallymounted on fulcrumstuds 31', which project exteriorly from theendframe plates 5 preferably at each end of the mashaft 19. Connectedwith and between the upper ends of said lever members 32 is a rod 27'28. ,Mounted on said rod 33 is an antifriction .roller or sleeve 34.Each bar 27, is provided at its underedge with a bifurcated 'or forkmember 35 which straddles and'is operatively engaged by the roller orsleeve 34. fThe'lowerend of each lever member 32 carriesan anti-frictionroller 36 which bears operatively against an actuating cam 37 'whichisfixed on and is rotated by said [counter-shaft 1 9.

I 'Pivotally mounted onffulcrum studs 38, which also project exteriorlyfrom said end frame plates 5 at each end of the machine,

' are outer lever members 39 which are out fioi wardly off-set relativeto said counter-shaft 19;. Connected with and between the upper ends ofsaid lever members '89 is a rod 40, which extends from end to end of themachine and beneath the reciprocable bars 27 28'. Mounted on said rod 40is an anti-1 ,which is fixed on and is rotated by said counter-shaft 19.j

The lower end portions of adjacent lever members 32'39 areinterconnected by spring means 45, which operate to keep the former inactuated relationr to their respective actuating'cams 37-44.

The shape and setting of the cams 37 and 44 is suchthat the respectivesets of bars 27 and 28, and their pelt supporting fingers 27' and 28,are alternately reciprocated in such manner that there is always oneset'ofpelt supporting fingers inwardly moved to extend and lie betweenvthe nip of the feed rolls 1517 and the bed-knife 10, soas to constantlysupport the pelt portions approach- "ing the cutting point of themachine; When portfingers 27 28. may extend, wherebythe f tops of saidprojections 46 cooperate withinwardly projected fingers to support thepelt skinright up to the very cutting edge of the bedknife 10.-

Cooperative with said pelt supporting fingers 2728, is a novel means forimpel lingthe pelt toward the bed knife 10, the same-beingespeciallyeffective for feeding the trailing or rear end extremity of the eltafter it has escaped from the nip of the 'eed rolls 1517. This meanscomprises the fol lowing mechanism:

Mounted on the upper forward portions of said end frame plates 5 arebearing brackets V 47. J ournaled to extend between said bear- 1517 7toward thebed-knife 10, In likeman- 'ner, plvotally connected with theupwardly,

projecting rocker arms '50 aresimilar {push bars 52, whichalsoextend-forwardlybetween.

5 Said push-bars 51-152 are respectively yieldably urged toward saidsupportingfingers 2728 by compression springs 53 which are suitablybacked by an anchor-plate 54 supported from said bearing brackets 47 toextend across and above said push bars. The means for oscillating saidrock-shaft 4:8 and the rocker arms 4950 connected therewith, to producealternated reciprocable movements of said push-bars 5152, comprises aneccentric crank-element 55 connected with and rotated by an end of saidmain shaft 7, the same being connected by a connecting rodor link 56,with a crank-arm'57 fixed on an end of said rock-shaft 48. The loweredges of the free end portions of said push-bars'51 52 are provided withforwardly projected gripping teeth 58, which while tending to easilydraw outward over the pelt skin'on backward movement of the push-bars,will, on forward movement of the latter, engage the pelt skin withstrong friction so as toimpel the same forward to the cutting point ofthe machine, especially after the rear end of the pelt escapes the nipof the feed rolls, while at the same time operating to hold the peltflatly down on the underlying supporting fingers 27 -28 and bed-knifeprojections as, so that even and regular skin chips or slivers areproduced without loss of valuable fur due to too coarse a chip, undueindragging of the pelt during the cutting operation, or other undesireddisplacement, wrinkling 0r shifting of the pelt during the cuttingmoment.

In the operation of the machine, the pelt, fur side down, is pushed bythe operator endwise over the feed table 30 until its forward end isnipped between the feed rolls 151?. The feed rolls propel the peltforwardly toward the bed-knife 10, the fur being combed or laid back bythe forward movement of the pelt, whereby the bases of the fur filamentsare exposed to the cutting action of the revolving cutting blades 9,which, as they pass shearingly along the bed-knife 10, operate to shearoff a sliver or chip of the pelt skin thereby at the same time severingfrom the skin sliver or chip the fur filaments close to the roots of thelatter. The severed fur will discharge downwardly into and through thedischarge passage 13 to a suitable place of proper disposition right upto the cutting.

edge of said bed-knife. The reciprocation V of said supporting fingers2728, however,

. operates to alternately retract their forward extremities, relative tothe bed-knife and its projections 46, sufficiently to assureunobstructed access of severed fur to the underlying discharge passage13-, the agitation occurring by reason of the movement of the supportingfingers tending'to shake or loosen up the severed fur so that the samewill freely fall away into said discharge passage. The alternatelyreciprocated sets of pushbars 5152 which are yieldingly pressed againstthe skin side of the pelt, not only serve to retain the latter smoothlyspread as it moves over thesupporting fingers to the cutting point ofthe machine, but also operate asa highly efficient impelling means toas: sure the smooth and controlled onward move ment of the trailing endof the pelt to the cutting point of the machine, after the same escapesthe nip of the feed rolls15-17,thereby assuring uniform cuttingconsumption of the entire pelt to the end that maximum output of severedfur. may be attained without loss, or without production ofwastefulscrap' ends of pelt with which valuable unsevered fur filaments arecarried away.

I am aware that changes may be made in the above described mechanisms aswell as in the details of the construction thereof,

without departing from the scope of this in-- V vention as defined inthe appended claims; it is therefore intended that all matter containedin the above'description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall beinterpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. 7 v V I claim:v

1. In a fur cutting machine, a cutting mechanism, feed rolls infront ofsaid cutting mechanism by and between "which a pelt is fed toward saidcutting mechanism, unyield ingmeans underlying the pelt in supportingrelation thereto andextending beyond to the nip of said feed rolls tothe cutting point of said cuttingmechanism, and two sets of rec'iprocable push-bars, the members of which bars having their free endsoperative between said feed rolls and said cutting mechmachine, acutting V V mechanism, feed rolls in front of said cutting mechanism byand between which a peltis fed toward said cutting mechanism, unyieldingmeans underlying the pelt in'supporting relation thereto and extendingbeyond to the are alternated with one another, sa1d pushanism to retaina pelt smoothly spread on sa1d supportingmeans, and means to alter-' nipof said feed rolls to the cutting point of i said cutting mechanism, andtwo sets of reciprocable push-bars, the members of which 'I e arealternated with one another, said pushbars having serrated free'endportions 0perative between said feed rolls and said cutting mechanism-toretain a pelt'smocthly. spread on said supportlng'means, means toalternately advance and retract said sets of f pushdoars. with impellingeffect upon pelt ;;bers ofv which are alternated with one another,

means to yieldably engage'said push-bars" with a pelt as supported bysaid supporting means, and

of the machine. 1 i

4. In a fur cutting machine, a cutting mechanism, teed rolls by andbetween-Which a pelt is fed toward said cutting mechanism, un-

ezyielding reciprocable supporter bars having pelt supporting fingersextending beyond the V nip of said feed rolls to the cutting mechanism,means to longitudinally reciprocate said bars and fingers in groupswhereby Withg drawn fingers give additional clearancefor the dischargeof severed fur from the cutting mechanism, lon itudin allyreciprocablepushbars having pelt engaging portions operative V I between said feedrolls and said cutting mechj'anism, said push-bars beingdisposed oversaid supporter bars and fingers, and means to longitudinally reciprocatesaid push-barsin groups toward and from-the cutting mechanism with peltadvancing efli'ect,

mechanism, feed rolls by" andjbetween which a'pelt is fed towardSELldClli'itlIlP, mechanism, unyielding reclprocable supporter bars hav-D -'I the nip of said feed rolls to the cutting mechanism,means tolongitudinally reciprocate said bars and fingers in groups whereby withdrawn fingers glve addltional clearance ofor bars having serrated peltengaging portions operative between said feed rolls andsaid cuttingmechanism, said push-bars being d1sposed over said supporter bars andfingers, and means to longitudlnally reclprocate said push-bars ingroupstoward and from the cutmeans to alternately reciprocate said setsof push-bars to impel a pelt'over said 9 3 supporting means to thecutting mechanism 5. In a fur cutting machine, a cutting ingpeltsupportingfingers extending beyond a the discharge of severed fur fromthe cutting imechanism, longltudinally reciprocable pushto'the cuttingmechanisim. means to;-1ongitudinally reciprocate said bars and. fingersin.

groups wherebywithdrawn fingers give addi-i tional clearanceforthedischarge of. severed",

fur from, the cutting mechanism, push bars having pelt engagingportionsoperative be.-. v tweensaid feed rolls-andisaid cutting mecha.-.

nism, said push-barsbeing disposed over said bars and fingers, and meansto longitudinally.

reciprocate said push-bars in groups toward and from the cuttingmechanism with ,pveltq advancing eifect, said push bars having ser-.-ratedi pelt gripping portions; and means to yieldingly' urgesaidgripping. portions into.

operative engagement with a supported pelt.

'In testimonythat. I claim the invention set forth above I'have hereuntosetmyhand this Qthday ofJune, 1931. I V ROBERTSHMPLASS;

ting mechanism with pelt advancing effect, 7

and means to yieldingly urge said push-bars into operativeengagement-with a supported 'isfed toward said cutting-mechanism, re

ciprocable bars having pelt supporting fingers extending beyond the. nipof said 7 feed rolls 6. In alfur cutting machine, acuttin'g mechanism,teed rolls by -and between which apelt

